Book support rack

ABSTRACT

A book support of the type used while reading in bed including a suitable floor base or bed-clamping base, an adjustable rack for holding a book, and articulated arm members joining the rack to the base and adjustable to any desired reading position, the book rack itself being made of two horizontal opposed book-cover gripping channels joined together by an upright channel member in such a way as to make the cover gripping channels adjustable to accomodate books of different size, and the upright channel member supporting a page retainer including a rod extending through the upright channel and having spring fingers near its ends to overlie the pages and retain them against the book.

United States Patent [191 Torme BOOK SUPPORT RACK [76] Inventor: MelvinH. Torme, 120 El Camino Dr., Beverly Hills, Calif. 90212 22 Filed: Aug.23, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 500,184

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 498,835 5/1930 Germany 248/445 June 17,1975 538,098 12/1946 United Kingdom 248/445 Primary Examiner--William H.Schultz Attorney, Agent, or FirmDowell & Dowell [57] ABSTRACT A booksupport of the type used while reading in bed including a suitable floorbase or bed-clamping base, an adjustable rack for holding a book, andarticulated arm members joining the rack to the base and adjustable toany desired reading position, the book rack itself being made of twohorizontal opposedbook-cover gripping channels joined together by anupright channel member in such a way as to make the cover grippingchannels adjustable to accomodate books of different size, and theupright channel member supporting a page retainer including a rodextending through the upright channel and having spring fingers near itsends to overlie the pages and retain them against the book.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BOOK SUPPORT RACK FIELD OF INVENTION Thisinvention relates to improvements in bedreading book racks or stands,and more particularly to improvements in the book supporting rackitself.

BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART There are a great many patents teaching variousconstructions of book supporting racks, some showing bases sitting onthe floor, as in Pat. Nos. 3,215,482 and 3,606,235, and others showingbases clamping to a part of the bed structure, as in US. Pat. Nos.3,351,312 and 3,514,066. The patents generally show some sort of fingersfor retaining the pages flat, for instance including light spring-metalfingers as in US. Pat. Nos. 3,215,482; 2,774,177; 3,076,285; 3,104,491,but these are often supported on heavy adjustable telescoping bars suchas in US. Pat. Nos. 3,104,491 and 3,076,285. Most of the racks havefeatures of adjustability as additionally shown in US. Pat. Nos.1,590,726 and 1,037,140. Other patents of interest include US. Pat. Nos.1,392,200 and 1,699,176, the latter showing a lamp clamped onto asupporting arm. These patented racks all serve a similar purpose, butfor the most part they are too heavy and too complex and costly tomanufacture on a large commercial scale.

THE INVENTION It is an important object of this invention to provide abed-reading book support including a novel and improved book rack, whichcan be carried by any type of base whether floor supported or clamped tothe bed structure, wherein the rack itself is of simple rigidconstruction made preferably of light-weight metal extrusions adjustablyassembled to accomodate books of dif' ferent sizes, and wherein a verysimple and inexpensive page retainer is provided having advantages asset forth below.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide a booksupporting rack including an upright channel member supportedintermediate its ends on a universal joint attached to the articulatedarms extending from the supporting base of the stand, and the uprightchannel member having an upwardly opening channel across its lower endextending substantially horizontally and permanently fixed to theupright channel member, and the upright channel member having spacedflanges thereon which support a downwardly opening horizontal channel insuch a way that the engagement of the latter channel with the uprightchannel member is frictional so that the upper channel can be moved upand down to accomodate different sizes of books.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a highly effectivepage retainer comprising a horizontal traverse bar extending throughhorizontally spaced holes in the upright channel member between the twohorizontal channels, and this bar being frictionally retained inposition with respect to the upright channel member, and having at itsouter ends spring fingers which extend around the ends of the book andengage the pages to hold them tightly against the book, the respectivespring fingers comprising extensions of helical springs which have arelaxed inside diameter less than the rod diameter on which they arecarried so that the helical springs grip the rod in a manner tightenough to hold the spring fingers in place, but still yieldable so thatthey can be moved in and out on the rod to accomodate different sizebooks.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide leaf retaining meansof the type described above in which the bar is free to rotate withrespect to the upright channel member in which it is supported so thatthe spring fingers will tend to droop downwardly by rotating the bardownwardly, whereby the pages will always be snugged against the bookregardless of the thickness of the stack of pages against which thespring fingers are engaged, and the individual helix springs carryingthe two fingers at opposite ends of the rod being rotatable on the rodso that they can be angled in different planes to accomodate situationsin which the stack of pages on one side of the book is much thicker thanthe stack of pages on the other side as the reader reads progressivelythrough the book. These degrees of rotational freedom of the individualfingers with respect to the rod, and of the rod with respect to theupright channel member in which it is supported, permit the pages of thebook always to be held down snugly without requiring that the user bendthe spring fingers or the supporting springs in order to achieve thedesired positions thereof.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a page retainerincluding the horizontal traverse rod, which rod is held in positionwith respect to its own axis by a helical spring contained within theupright channel member and surrounding the rod in frictional clampingengagement therewith, whereby the rod can be axially slid back and forththrough the upright channel member so as to lengthen it on one side orthe other, thereby accomodating the situation in which the book islopsided because it is not open in its center, as when the user isreading the beginning ofa thick book or the end thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the following discussion of the drawings, wherein:

THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a bed with a stand clampedto it and supporting the novel book rack according to the presentinvention on articulated arms;

FIG. 2 is a view of the front of the book rack according to the presentinvention supporting a book, the rack being maintained in a verticallyand horizontally adjustable stand of the floor stand variety;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rack according to the present inventionshowing it on a somewhat larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the rack shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a section view of the upright channel mem ber and the centerportion of the rod taken along line 66 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a bed B having a head Hsupporting the base 1 of a bedclamping stand, the base I having a screwclamp 2 located beneath it in a manner well known per se in connectionwith drafting table lamp supports. The base 1 has two arms 3 and 4extending from it and articulated at the joints 5 and 6. At the outerend of the arm 4 there is a universal joint 7 which is secured to therack by an attaching boss 8 and a nut 9 which can be seen best in FIGS.3 and 5. FIG. 2 shows an entirely different type of stand adapted to siton the floor, and including a base 1 1 supporting an upright shaft 12which has a horizontal telescoping arm including the members 13 whichare secured to the upright shaft 12 and an arm 14 which is slidable backand forth between the arm 13, including a clamp joint 15. The arm 14 isconnected at 16 to a vertical arm 17 carrying at its top end a jointsimilar to the joint 7 (not shown in FIG. 2). The particular type ofstand, whether it be a stand clamped to the bed as shown in FIG. 1 or afloor stand as shown in FIG. 2, forms no part of the present inventionand is included merely to illustrate the breadth of the present concept.

The inventive features are believed to lie in the book supporting rackitself which is best seen in FIGS. 3 through 6 inclusive.

The book supporting rack 20 includes an upright channel member 21 havinga web surface 22 adjoining two side surfaces 23 and 24, FIG. 6, and theupright channel member 21 further including two flange portions 25 and26 which are attached to the side portions 23 and 24 respectively, andfrom a part of the overall channel extrusion 21 which serves as thebackbone of the book supporting rack.

The rack further includes a lower channel 30 opening upwardly as bestseen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the channel 30 having a rear upright portion31 which is secured to the flanges 25 and 26 by bolts and 36. The coverof the book sits in the trough in the channel 30, and the cover isprevented from leaving the front of the channel by the two verticalportions 32 and 33 which are cut away in the vicinity of the referencecharacter 34 in order to provide a gap for receiving the binding portionof the book. There is also an upper book supporting channel having adownwardly extending back portion 41 carrying two bolts 45 and 46 whichsupport lugs such as the lug 47 shown in FIG. 4, which lugs extendaround the flanges 25 and 26 of the upright channel member 20 andfrictionally retain the upper channel 40 in adjusted position thereon.The upper channel 40 also has front portions 42 and 44 serving to retainthe top of the cover of the book and prevent it from pulling forwardlyout of the bracket, the gap in the vicinity of the reference character44 serving to pass the upper end of the book binding. Thus, the book canbe supported both at its upper cover edge and at the lower edge of itscover so that it is firmly held, but so that the pages are free to turn.

The leaf retainer comprisesa rod 50 which extends through two spacedholes in the side portions 23 and 24 of the upright channel member sothat the rod is rotatably and reciprocably held in the channel member21. The rod is retained in selected axial position by the coil spring 51whose relaxed inside opening is slightly smaller than the diameter ofthe rod 50 so that the spring 51 resists reciprocation of the rod 50 inthe upright channel member 21, but permits adjustment thereof by pushingthe rod back and forth. Near the outer ends of the rod 50 are locatedthe page retaining fingers 52 and which are respectively an integralpart of the helical springs 53 and 56 which, like the spring 51, arewound with a normal relaxed internal diameter slightly smaller than theoutside diameter of the rod 50 so that they also grip the rod, but witha grip which is yieldable so that the springs can be moved back andforth thereon or rotated thereabout in order to change their mutualorientation. Thus, it will be apparent that the fingers 52 and 55 willtend to droop downwardly by gravity, thereby rotating the rod 50 in theholes through which it passes in the upright channel member 21. Sincethe plane occupied by the spring portions 52-54 need not be the sameplane which is occupied by the spring portions 5557, it should beapparent that the springs 53 and 56 can be rotated relative to-eachother on the rod so that for any stacking of the pages on one side ofthe book as compared to the pages as stacked on the other side of thebook, it is possible to have the fingers 52 and 55 hold the pages downby gravity so that the pages lie flat against the book. This is animportant feature of the present invention since it overcomes thetendency of the pages on the thick side of the book to govern theposition of the fingers on both sides of the book.

In addition, it is contemplated that a suitable lamp such as the lamp Lcan be connected either to the base of the stand or to one of the armsthereof, for instance by the clamp C as shown in FIG. 1 to provideconvenient illumination for the reader.

The stand can be tipped about the joint 7 as shown in FIG. 4, or it canbe rotated out of horizontal position around the nut 9 and boss 8 so asto place the whole stand in any desired position, whereby the joints 7,8, and 9 can be truly said to provide universal mounting of the rackupon the rest of the stand.

The present invention is not to be limited-to the exact form shown inthe drawings provided for illustrative purposes, for obviously changesmay be made therein within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A book support comprising:

a. a base member;

b. a book supporting rack;

c. articulated arm members connected between the base member and therack and adjustable to position the supporting rack in a desired readingposition, and

d. said book supporting rack comprising an upright channel member havingan intermediate point on one face connected to one of said arm membersby universal joint means and opening on its other face toward the planein which the book is to be supported; a transverse lower channel openingupwardly to support a book and the channel being fixed to said uprightchannel member and disposed at right angles across its other face; anupper transverse channel opening downwardly to support a book anddisposed at right angles across said other face of the upright channelmember and clamped thereto by slidable means so that the upper channelcan be vertically positioned thereon to accomodate different-heightbooks; and page retaining means comprising a rod passed throughhorizontally aligned holes in said upright channel member and extendingoutwardly on each side thereof to lie between said upper and lowerchannels, and a helical spring having a relaxed inside diameter lessthan the rod diameter applied onto the rod near each of its opposedends, and a page retaining finger extending from each of the springs andbent around to yieldably overlie and retain the pages against the book.

2. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upright channelmember has a web portion comprising said one face connected to one armmember, and two flange portions comprising said other face of thechannel member and joined to the web portions by two side portions ofthe channel, the lower book supporting channel being fixed to saidflange portions and the upper transverse channel lying against the faceof said flange portions and carrying bracket means extending behind theflange portions and comprising said slidable means frictionally engagingthe latter.

3. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upright channelmember has a web portion comprising said one face connected to one armmember, and the web portion being connected to two side portions of theupright channel member, said rod passing through holes in the oppposedside portions and being retained therein by a helical spring retainer ofinside diameter less than the rod diameter, the spring retainersurrounding the rod within the channel member between its two sideportions and frictionally gripping the rod to retain it positioned withrespect to the channel member.

4. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central portionof both of the transverse channels in the vicinity of the uprightchannel member is cut away to pass the binding of a book so that thetransverse channels grip the book only at the upper and lower edge ofits cover.

5. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein each page retainingfinger is an integral part of the helical spring applied to the end ofthe rod and comprising spring metal wire.

1. A book support comprising: a. a base member; b. a book supportingrack; c. articulated arm members connected between the base member andthe rack and adjustable to position the supporting rack in a desiredreading position, and d. said book supporting rack comprising an uprightchannel member having an intermediate point on one face connected to oneof said arm members by universal joint means and opening on its otherface toward the plane in which the book is to be supported; a transverselower channel opening upwardly to support a book and the channel beingfixed to said upright channel member and disposed at right angles acrossits other face; an upper transverse channel opening downwardly tosupport a book and disposed at right angles across said other face ofthe upright channel member and clamped thereto by slidable means so thatthe upper channel can be vertically positioned thereon to accomodatedifferent-height books; and page retaining means comprising a rod passedthrough horizontally aligned holes in said upright channel member andextending outwardly on each side thereof to lie between said upper andlower channels, and a helical spring having a relaxed inside diameterless than the rod diameter applied onto the rod near each of its opposedends, and a page retaining finger extending from each of the springs andbent around to yieldably overlie and retain the pages against the book.2. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upright channelmember has a web portion comprising said one face connected to one armmember, and two flange portions comprising said other face of thechannel member and joined to the web portions by two side portions ofthe channel, the lower book supporting channel being fixed to saidflange portions and the upper transverse channel lying against the faceof said flange portions and carrying bracket means extending behind theflange portions and comprising said slidable means frictionally engagingthe latter.
 3. The book support as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidupright channel member has a web portion comprising said one faceconnected to one arm member, and the web portion being connected to twoside portions of the upright channel member, said rod passing throughholes in the oppposed side portions and being retained therein by ahelical spring retainer of inside diameter less than the rod diameter,the spring retainer surrounding the rod within the channel memberbetween its two side portions and frictionally gripping the rod toretain it positioned with respect to the channel member.
 4. The booksupport as claimed in claim 1, wherein the central portion of both ofthe transverse channels in the vicinity of the upright channel member iscut away to pass the binding of a book so that the transverse channelsgrip the book only at the upper and lower edge of its cover.
 5. The booksupport as claimed in claim 1, wherein each page retaining finger is anintegral part of the helical spring applied to the end of the rod andcomprising spring metal wire.